And I got my free iced coffee…how rude!

I went up to the Crystal City Dunkin Donuts’ counter promptly at 10am, as did my coworker, and we were both met with very rude cashiers. I’ll give them some leeway because mine just dealt with a very particular customer, but my coworker’s cashier immediately became huffy because neither of us could understand what he mumbled. Apparently he said “what you want on it” in a heavy accent, and when my coworker politely asked him to repeat it, he rolled his eyes and yelled back “On the coffee. What you want?”.

You put stuff IN coffee, not ON it (except whipped cream, which he wasn’t talking about). We both just told our cashiers “whatever normally goes IN it” and they complied, after more eye-rolling.

Well I’m SORRY for ruining your day with my inability to order coffee correctly since I never buy it otherwise!

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Clever Dude

5 Comments

TAKE BACK CUSTOMER SERVICE! This irritates me more than anything. When will people in the customer service or no-service industry learn to speak proper, un-muffled, non-gum chewing, English!!! I’m sick of it.

And on the flip side….show them some respect and END your cell phone conversation before approaching a checkout or service desk! That INCLUDES the grocerie stores!

I’ve lived in DC for about 4 years now — i’m originally from ND. I was shocked at the level of incompetence and just plain rudeness in customer service when i moved out here. What is it with these people who don’t care about doing their jobs well?

@jared: I think it’s just general discourtesy, anger and apathy plaguing the entire DC region. I’m from central PA where, while not always chirpy and perky, at least customer service people cared. It’s hard to find people who care around here because either people are too stressed or because there’s just so many people that “there’s always going to be another customer” and “my rudeness with this one customer won’t affect the business as a whole”.

Jared – I think they don’t care about doing their jobs well….because they don’t have to. We, as a society, have allowed it to continue for so long its just commonplace. Owners and Shopkeepers can make every excuse in the book…but until we demand proper service, we should vote with our wallets and feet.

Its frustrating when you pride yourself on giving good service and don’t get it in return. Sadly, we’ve allowed it to become ‘the norm.’

Up here in Anne Arundel County, there was no other customers in Dunkin Donuts when I drove by, so I figured, what the heck. I asked for the free iced coffee and they just looked me blankly. There were no flavors listed, so I said I’d take the chocolate flavor that I think they have? And they still looked at me. Then I got an impatient, “Just one?” comment. What?! They’d give me more than one for a free promotion? That’s just, odd…

Thank goodness I’m not a coffee drinker. This, plus an even worse experience with that location just last month, means I’m not going back for a long while, if ever.

When I worked in retail during high school/college, treating a customer like in any of these stories would have had me fired so fast!